1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the invalid walker art.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a variety of invalid walkers that are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The inventor of the device described herein holds a number of patents directed towards invalid structures such as walkers.
Over the years there has been a long felt need for walkers with additional strength and stability. An invalid walker must be strong and stable because an invalid must rely upon it as his sole source of support. In addition to strength and stability, the structure must also be light in weight and relatively inexpensive.
Invalid walkers with bracing are fairly well known. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon to have at least one brace interconnecting each of the front and rear legs in addition to the primary attachment structure, which is typically the handle section.
Several walkers having additional braces have been manufactured by Edco, Inc., 125 South Street, Passaic, N.J. 07055. One walker is known as the Hemi-Ambulator, Catalog item No. 2123-1903 which includes a pair of front legs connected together by a continuous U-shaped member and a U-shaped bracket having downwardly turned tips which serve as additional bracing above and beyond that normally provided by the handle section of the walker. A walker of similar construction is identified in the Edco, Inc. catalogs as Item No. 2123-1931. Edco, Inc. also sells a walker, catalog Item No. 1707, having a similar base bracing structure, but including discontinuous front legs. That walker is referred to in the literature as the Dollar Stretcher Walker. A variety of folding walkers are also available from Edco. One such folding walker is Catalog Item No. 2123-1906 and another is known as the Edcomatic Folding Walker, Models No. 2123-1916 and 1917. Due to their folding nature, it is possible to effectively brace the side legs, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to connect the two front legs by an additional brace. Edco, Inc., also produces a line of economy type walkers having a substantially continuous U-shaped bracing structure which extends across the front legs as well as between the front legs and the back legs. These economy walkers known as Models No. 2123-1801, 2123-1721 and 2123-1701 all include substantially continuous U-shaped additional bracing in which the intermediate section between the front legs may also be employed for support purposes. Of note also is the delux model No. 2123-1901 which includes a U-shaped downwardly turned bottom bracing structure.
Similar to the Edco Model No. 2123-1931 is the Sci-O-tech Deluxe Adjustable "U" Line Adult Walker, catalog No. 86,002. It includes a U-shaped pair of front legs, a continuously U-shaped pair of rear legs and another U-shaped member which provides additional bracing for the front and back legs and across the two front legs.
One advantage of the present invention is that the additional bracing may include a pair of grips located below the two normal top grips so as to assist an invalid in assuming the standing position from a sitting position. There are some walkers known to those of ordinary skill in the art which include an additional hand grip however, the additional grip is usually found at a different location on the structure. Such walkers are used, for example, in assisting invalids when they go up and down stairs. Typical of such walkers is the Edco Multipurpose Stair Walker, Catalog No. 1911. The Edco Multipurpose Stair Walker includes a pair of handles extending from the rear legs of the walker in such a manner that an invalid can place more weight on the rear legs when negotiating a stairway.
In addition to the basic walker structure, it is also known to add certain features to make the walkers more adaptable to the surroundings in which they are used. For example, it is not uncommon to include adjustable feet portions on the legs of the walker so that they can be adjusted upwardly or downwardly.